Six years ago, Bob Carle said his middle son, David, had every reason to “crawl in a hole for a year.” A massive roadblock put an end to a big dream taking shape.

Defenseman David Carle, an NHL prospect who was months from taking his career to the University of Denver, learned his 18-year-old heart was a time bomb. Quit competing in hockey, or die playing it.

Over time, Bob Carle and his family knew David would learn to live and thrive with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), a heart defect and a leading cause of sudden death for young athletes. But they didn’t expect David’s immediate acceptance and rapid success in the coaching ranks.

David Carle, 24, is the Pioneers’ new full-time assistant coach, replacing his mentor and the man who recruited him to Denver, Steve Miller. Carle was a volunteer student coach in his four years at Denver, working under former coach George Gwozdecky, before graduating from DU in 2012 with a finance degree (3.3 grade-point average) and being hired by a junior A hockey team in Green Bay, Wis.

“You always knew that when he was diagnosed, his attitude and character would allow him to be successful at whatever he did,” said Matt Carle, David’s older brother, who starred at DU and now plays for the Tampa Bay Lightning. “David has a very sharp hockey mind, and it’s great that people speak so highly of him.”

Bob Carle, speaking on behalf of his wife and David’s mother, Karen, from the family’s home in Anchorage, Alaska, said DU is a special place to them. Gwozdecky and the school honored David’s hockey scholarship despite his not being able to play and allowed him to grow as a coach.

“We’re absolutely proud of what David has accomplished. It wasn’t handed to him. He earned it,” Bob Carle said. “The four years he spent under Coach Gwozdecky was such a privilege, and we’re forever indebted to him and the school. Denver is home for David.”

“David wasn’t in the top three at the beginning, but his interview was excellent,” Montgomery said. “He was well-prepared and had a clear vision of how he wanted to recruit and how he saw the game, which had a lot of similarities in how I saw the game.”

Before being diagnosed with HCM, Carle didn’t envision becoming a coach after he was finishing playing.

“I didn’t really have plans after my playing career. I’m not sure I would have become a coach, but it’s something I’m glad I’ve gotten into now,” he said. “It’s surreal, how much your life can change in six years. I think I’m still a little bit in disbelief by it but at the same time very fortunate.”

NCAA hockey full-time paid coaching staffs are limited to a head coach and two assistants. David Carle is undoubtedly one of the youngest assistants among 58 Division I teams.

“When you’re trying to move your assistants on, you usually speak in the best interest of the candidate,” said Derek Lalonde, head coach of the Green Bay Gamblers of the United States Hockey League. “In this case, I was calling on the best interest for Denver. David was really a good fit, and he proved it. He already had four years there under Coach Gwozdecky, and he grew a lot when in the short time he was here in Green Bay with me.

“In junior hockey, it’s a little less hands-on but the same responsibility. David is much more mature than 24, but he has that balance of being in charge, being that authoritative figure but understanding what the players are going through.”

Carle is not as “hands-on” as he used to be. As a sophomore at DU, he pushed it too hard on the ice and suffered arrhythmia, ended up in the emergency room in a near-death experience that ultimately led doctors to install a implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) in his chest.

“With it comes other fears, such as is it really working? And there’s some upkeep,” Carle said of the ICD. “But if anything were to ever happen, it would probably save my life. It’s a good insurance plan.”

Carle still craves a playing career. If he was cured of HCM, he would attempt a comeback.

“One-hundred percent,” he said, “but things happen in life that you cannot control. That will never change. I’m pretty happy with this alternative. I know there are many, many other people in life who would rather be doing something else, and I’m definitely happy where I’m at.”

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